During the early 1990s, the Department of Labor instituted a series of investigations called "Operation Child Watch" that specifically targeted employers of youth. For 1990, the chart shows the number of violations found rather than the number of workplaces with violations. As a result of this targeted crackdown, the government in 1990 detected the most violations and the most illegally working minors than in any year since.
During the years 1992-2000, the number of states detecting child labor violations has been fairly consistent at 28 or 29 states, except in 1998, when the number of states jumped to 33. This could partially explain why the number of illegally working minors detected was considerably higher during this year. Another factor could be the increased number of compliance officers whose sole responsibility is child labor law enforcement. There was an average of 8.5 officers covering 46 states in 1996 — and 22 covering 42 states in 1998. This increased hiring of officers may have signaled a push to target child labor violators. This could have been in response to a highly publicized 1997 Associated Press study that targeted child labor in the United States. The increased hiring has continued into the year 2000.
In both 1994 and 2000, an average of 40 officers worked in the field. Although inspections were up during 2000, and consequently child labor violations were up, the number of detected illegally working minors was down by about half from 1994. It could be that the number of illegally working minors in the industries that currently undergo inspection is down, as partially seen in an earlier panel.
Unfortunately, the numbers of detected illegal minor workers do not tell a complete story. The inspections mentioned above only account for a minimal number of inspections in the agriculture sector where an estimated 800,000 children work as migrant and seasonal workers. In fact, in 1996, only 7 states conducted inspections where child labor in agriculture was targeted, and only 3 of those states conducted a significant number of inspections in that same year. Of those three, 31 employers were found to be in violation, with a total of 91 minors employed illegally.
The table below shows the estimated number of illegally working minors in 1996 by industry. Although many children work in the agricultural sector — they are subject to more lenient labor laws than non-agricultural child workers — the estimated number of illegal child workers in this sector is much lower than those working in non-agricultural industries.
Estimated Illegal Child Workers in the United States, 1996
| Total | 290,200 |
| Non-agricultural industries | 285,300 |
| Agricultural industries | 4,900 |
The illegal adult labor force is discussed in the next panel.
Sources: Child Labor Coalition. "Overview on Enforcement", Child Labor in the US. Retrieved November 30, 2001 http://www.stopchildlabor.org/USchildlabor/enforce-mentoverview.htm Child Labor Coalition. "State Survey Chart on Child Labor", Child Labor in the US. Retrieved November 30, 2001 from http://www.stopchildlabor.org/USchildlabor/kidchart.htm. Child Labor Coalition. "Children in the Fields Fact Sheet", Consumer Campaigns, Legislation, and Best Practice Solutions. Retrieved November 30, 2001 from: y. Child Labor Coalition. "Highlights of the Child Labor Coalition's 1997 Child Labor State Survey", Child Labor in the US. Retrieved November 30, 2001 from http://www.stopchildlabor.org/Archives/97statesurv.html.
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